Leviathan

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission. Title: Leviathan Series: Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier Author: Jack Campbell Rating: of 5 Battle Axes Genre: SFF Pages: 324

Synopsis: Geary tracks down the rogue A.I. fleet with help of the alien Dancers. He must destroy them at all cost or civilization, both of the Alliance and the Syndics, will fall. But with secret black agencies working against him and the Government, show more can Geary do his job and still abide by the laws he believes are necessary? My Thoughts: Now this is a good military SF book. I like a main character who has character. I like space battles, just not too much [this book was balanced perfectly in that regards]. I like happy endings. In short, this book is why I buy certain books in hardcover. I like it, I'll re-read it in a decade or so and I want to have it on hand should I decide to do a year long re-read of all my favorite books. I truly enjoyed the "If I do that, then they'll do that, then I'll do.." kind of logic chains that went on between Geary and the computers in the A.I. fleet which were coded based on him. How cool is that, fighting a version of yourself? Since Campbell wrote 6 books in the original Lost Fleet series, I am hoping he keeps up the symmetry and ends this sequel series in the next book. " show less

Leviathan ratchets up the tension to a level that the series hasn't seen since the first few books, with Geary outgunned by the AI controlled dark fleet running a simulation of himself. Saving the Alliance and humanity will mean facing down this autonomous superweapon, which is slipping its programming the longer it keeps running. The battles here are grueling and appropriately dangerous, and this book doesn't break the mold of the series for better or worse. Geary is still Geary, Desjani is still Desjani, and victory hinges on the explosive potential of the hypernet gates.

After 11 of these books in about as many days (Goodreads says I started my reread on June 30th), I can say that they're popcorn, but they're enjoyable popcorn. I show more think I've had my fill, though in a while I might try the Syndic focused Tarnished Knight series, which might offer a needed break from Geary's idealism. show less

The saga continues as Black Jack works to solve the puzzle of the black ships. The real enemy may be closer to home rather than from unknown space. The concluding battle causes a key series character to pay the final price to save the Alliance Fleet. Still, an interesting series to read and anticipate the next installment.

For Black Jack Geary and the crew of his fleet, the war has long been over but the fighting isn't. They returned to the Alliance from their side trip to Earth to discover a new threat to the Alliance worlds. This new threat is a new fleet - one that is capable of fighting even Black Jack to a draw! This is in the same style as all of the books, a quick read, heavy on large space battles and a little light on characters, but if you're in it this far, this is as good as the rest of the books in the series. The plot presents a fairly logical dilemma, what to do after the war is over if everyone doesn't want it to be over.

The Lost Fleet is one of the most realistic, least jingoistic military SF series being written. In this installment, Admiral "Black Jack" Geary and his fleet are faced with a serious threat to the Alliance and to the fragile peace from automated warships run amok. The "dark ships" are deliberately hidden from Alliance sensors and are very tough and fast. They are almost more than Geary can handle in a straight-up fight, especially since they were programmed to mimic his tactics. Finding and destroying their base may be the only way to destroy the dark ships, but it won't be easy. And it may not be survivable. But Geary is going to do it anyway.

A worthy contination of this lengthy series.

Action packed from the first page to the last, this book wastes no time grabbing you by the short hairs and taking you for quite a ride! Romance is naturally non-existent, but this military sci-fi thriller does a great job wrapping up an intriguing series. I only read this volume of the series, but I didn't feel like I missed much, and the author didn't feel like he was re-capping a lot for my benefit, which can get tedious. A great book if you love sci-fi, military fiction, or action-packed reading!

This series is a bunch of unconnected happenstances where the antagonist is the political leadership served by Geary and the fleet. Awesome space battles against huge odds mean that a couple of characters we trust throughout the series don't make it to the end of this book. As usual, the ending isn't one and it just means you're off to purchase the next book.